It is known design practice in the automotive body engineering art to make provision for a third row seat, or an auxiliary seat, rearward of the driver seat and the front passenger seat. In the case of a contemporary minivan, a sliding side door for the vehicle permits access of passengers to a row of rear seats. In such instances, it is desirable to fold the auxiliary seat forward to facilitate ingress and egress of the rear seat passengers. Contemporary minivans, as well as so-called sport utility vehicles, furthermore may be provided with auxiliary seats rearward of the driver seat and the front passenger seat. These would be positioned on a platform or structural floor panel that provides the secondary purpose of carrying cargo. In such instances the auxiliary seat must be folded forward to provide an extension of the cargo carrying floor area.
In each of these instances, it is necessary to fold the seat back portion of the seat assembly forward over the lower seat portion. The stacked height of the auxiliary seat assembly in its folded state then would be equal to the sum of the height of the seat riser assembly, the height of the lower seat portion and the thickness of the seat back portion. The overall stacked height thus is substantial in prior art designs. This is an inconvenience to passengers as they ingress and egress the vehicle through a side door opening. Furthermore, the stacked height of the auxiliary seat assembly reduces the cargo carrying capacity of the vehicle when the vehicle is adapted for carrying cargo.